The Adventurous Lectionary – Seventh Sunday of Easter – May 17, 2015

The Adventurous Lectionary – Seventh Sunday of Easter – May 17, 2015 May 17, 2015

The Seventh Sunday after Easter
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

Psalm 1
I John 5:9-13
John 17:6-19

Today’s readings are about prayer and alignment with God’s vision. Belief and action are essential to Christian life, and prayer may be the most definitive faith practice. Prayer changes things and leads to world-transforming actions.

The reading from Acts is a curious one. It describes the first congregational meeting in church history. Uncertain of who should take Judas’ place among the apostles, the community casts lots. Most likely, they wrote the names of Matthias and Justice on two stones, placed the stones in an urn, began to shake the urn, and the first stone to fall out represented God’s choice for Judas’ successor. Is this a matter of luck or providence, or a combination of the two?

Flipping a coin or picking a name out of a hat typically isn’t the way we choose our pastors or spiritual leaders, except in certain traditional Mennonite communities, but the community’s casting lots is not merely a matter of luck. It is bathed in prayer. Prior to choosing the next apostle, they prayed for God’s presence in the process. When God is brought into play, luck becomes synchronicity, revealing the movements of God amid otherwise random events.

Leslie Weatherhead asserted that “when I pray coincidences happen, when I don’t, they don’t.” Carl Jung spoke of synchronicity or meaningful coincidence to describe certain life-changing events. Neither Weatherhead nor I believe that prayer is magic or violates normal cause and effect relationships, but we do believe that prayer connects us with deeper wisdom, power, and insight. Prayer opens a connection with the mind of God, enabling us to see more and do more. We see more deeply and notice realities we previously missed.

The words of Psalm 1 connect following God’s law with well-being. Alignment with spiritual laws joins the micro and macro in holy ways. In harmony with God’s way, we experience greater wholeness; life becomes a blessing. I don’t believe that this is linear. I do believe that when we follow the divine pathway imminent in our bodies, minds, relationships, and spiritual lives, and we experience greater power, energy, and insight.

The words of I John root our lives in our relationship with Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate spiritual friend; he is God among and with us. When we turn to Jesus in faith, we share in God’s promise of eternal life in the present as well as the future. What would it be like to have eternal life now, and trust the future to God’s everlasting love. Belief in Christ is ultimately relational rather than doctrinal. Connected to Christ we experience eternity in the changing world and in God’s heavenly realm.

Jesus’ prayer from John 17 is a source of great consolation for faithful persons in challenging situations. Jesus is praying for his followers, then and now. He is praying for their unity and he is also praying for their protection. Jesus is praying that we be protected from the impact of the evil one and all that would separate us from our brothers and sisters. Imagine it – Jesus is praying for us! Jesus’ prayer of protection is reaching out to encircle us and give us the courage to face life’s challenges with grace and trust.

Jesus’ prayer reminds me of the Celtic practice of “Caim” or “encircling” in which before a journey or facing a threat, a person draws a circle around her or himself as a sign that God surrounds him or her on every journey. Jesus prayer reminds me of the prayer of St. Patrick which can be connected with the encircling to give us courage amid threat and conflict.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

We are always encircled by God’s love, and when we align ourselves with God’s way we can have confidence even in challenging times.


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